Maria Knobelsdorf, University of Dortmund, Germany - Didaktik der ...

other topic. The reasons given varied considerably. Some of
the teachers who did teach this topic considered it to be
important because it is very interesting for the students.
Other teachers gave various reasons for not teaching this
topic. Some of them thought that the students were not
ready for this difficult topic yet or that they were not interested.
Others considered it more important to do some
programming or teach the topics needed for the university
entrance qualification. Some teachers just said that they did
not plan to teach this topic in their school and others explained
that their knowledge of this topic was not sufficient.
But most of them thought that the topic of networks and
the Internet was relevant for students, because they use it
daily and it is a part of general knowledge to know how the
Internet works in their opinion.
An explanation for that might be that teachers find this
topic important but their own knowledge is not sufficient.
When we asked them how they felt about their knowledge
of networks and the Internet most of them expressed some
uncertainty. They did have ideas about how to teach the
topic even though they had not done so, yet.
The answers on how many lessons should be dedicated
to this topic showed that it might be a topic with lots of
contents. Nearly all of the teachers considered a lot of time
necessary for teaching this topic. The answers varied from
nine periods of 90 minutes to half a school year.
The grade in which they would teach this topic differs as
well. Some teachers would teach networks and the Internet
in the sixth or seventh grade, but would focus on using
the Internet and learning about the hazards. Others would
teach it from the ninth grade onwards and consider different
contents as important.
4.2 Contents of the Topic
The answers on which topics teachers think should be
taught in lessons about network and the Internet can be
classified in four groups. The first group consists of all the
topics concerning the function or the history of the Internet.
Included in this category is the question on how the Internet
works. Almost all teachers would include the function of the
Internet.
Another topical group is programming/creating something
in the Internet. Teachers would teach how to create a personal
homepage. They would teach HTML or PHP, as an
method how to create an individual part of the Internet.
Another theme would be different network technologies,
like emails. This group also contains cryptology. Here teachers
would describe how an email gets from the sender to the
recipient and what kind of encryption can be used.
Yet another topic is the utilization of the Internet. Themes
like social networks and privacy are part of that. This content
seems to be important to CS teachers, because nearly
all of them mentioned it.
4.3 Structuring the Content
The different possibilities of introducing the subject depend
on the topics the teacher has decided to teach: like the
function of the Internet, the creation of a personal homepage,
social networks, data security or privacy. Some of the
teachers would want their introduction to be problem-based.
Therefore they would present a real problem to be solved by
the students during the lessons. Another possibility would
be to start with a problem of current interest.
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Other teachers have no plans for structuring lessons, they
are very flexible and prepared to structure the topics spontaneously.
They are guided by the students’ interests and
decide together on the content of the lessons. Some of them
would introduce the topic of networks and the Internet by
asking students how they imagine the Internet works, or by
asking them what contents they think are important to learn
about this topic. Other teachers are convinced that students
do not have a perspective on this topic, so they would begin
the lessons without taking students’ perspectives into account.
If they should later realize that the students do have
some perspectives on this topic, they would consider them.
4.4 Learning Objectives
We also asked about the learning objectives teachers pursued
with their lessons. We found out that the objectives
named can be classified in four groups. The first group is
about content knowledge. Students should know how the
Internet works, they should know something about the history
of the Internet and they should know some cryptology
algorithms.
Another group is about comprehension. Students should
understand how the Internet works so that they can use it
better, and they should also understand what was wrong
about their perspectives. This group of learning objectives
can be characterized very well by a statement one teacher
made: ”‘Students should understand what they use”’.
Another group is about using the Internet/social networks
correctly. The last group of learning objectives is about soft
skills, like teamwork or presentation skills.
4.5 Teaching Methods
Teachers use different methods to achieve their learning
objectives. Some of them prepare the content and just tell
the students how everything works. Other teachers inquire
about students’ interests and plan their lessons based on
that information. In this case topics and methods are based
on students’ interests.
Most of the teachers use the method of projects. Students,
mostly in groups, have to do their own research on a topic,
understand it, prepare it for presentation and of course do
the presentation. This is the opposite of teachers’ input,
because it is a very student-based method.
Other teachers explained that visualization is very important
for this topic. By visualization teachers mean different
things. It might be a kind of game, or a simulation where
the students act as part of a network and can see how the
data gets from one computer to another. Visualization can
also mean watching a movie in which the pathway of the
data through the network is shown. Furthermore visualization
can also mean to have a look at the real network, such
as the school network or the network at home.
4.6 Teaching Materials
On the question about the materials used in the lessons
the interviewed teachers did not only give examples of what
kind of materials they would use, but also mentioned the
sources of the material. Some teachers use their own knowledge
and creativity as a source and produce their material
themselves. Others fall back on prepared materials and just
use them. Some of the interviewed teachers had no idea
where they would get the materials for the topic of networks
and the Internet.